Seca II & XJ600 Tire Guide

[cafe_bill]

I was bored and perusing a Chaparral mailer the other night and decided to list all the tires in their ad that might fit up to the Seca. First, here are the stock sizes for the Seca II:

Stock sizes for Seca II rims:

• 110/80-17 Front
  130/70-18 Rear

And since it's common to swap out to FZR 600 wheels:

Stock sizes for FZR 600 rims (1992 and later):

• 110/70-17 Front
  140/60-18 Rear

It’s generally ok to move up or down one size in section width without issue, such as from a 130 up to a 140 or down to a 120. (Yes, though everyone seems to think wider is better, I’m here to tell you that you’ve not felt how fast a Seca can turn in until you’ve tried it with a 120 section rear tire. I’ve tried it and it’s amazing.) I've known of riders who've gone up to 160 section widths on FZR rims, so I've included those also.

Both the Seca II and the FZR came new with bias ply tires. Used to be every manufacturer strongly advised NOT to switch to radials if the bike was designed for bias ply tires. I’m not sure that’s changed but a lot of folks have done it and I’ve yet to hear of any ill effects.

I’m sure are more models and sizes than these available, this is just what Chaparral had listed in their mailer...

Manufacturers, tires and available sizes:

Avon:

• Roadrider AM26 (Sport Touring bias ply)
  110/70-17 Front
  110/80-17 Front
  120/80-18 Rear
  120/90-18 Rear
  130/70-18 Rear
  130/80-18 Rear
  140/70-18 Rear
  150/70-18 Rear
  
  AV55/AV56 (Ultra Sport Touring radial)
  110/70-17 Front
  150/70-18 Rear
  160/60-18 Rear

Bridgestone:

• BT-023 (Sport Touring radial)
  110/70-17 Front
  160/60-18 Rear
  
  Battlax BT-45 H (Sport Touring bias ply)
  110/70-17 Front
  120/80-18 Rear
  130/70-18 Rear
  
  Battlax BT-45 V (Sport Touring bias ply – “high performance”)
  110/80-17 Front
  130/80-18 Rear
  140/70-18 Rear
  140/80-18 Rear
  150/70-18 Rear
  
  Battlax BT-016 (Ultra High Perfomance Sport radial)
  110/70-17 Front
  150/70-18 Rear
  160/60-18 Rear

Continental:

• Conti Go! (Sport Touring cross ply)
  110/70-17 Front
  110/80-17 Front
  120/80-18 Rear
  130/70-18 Rear
  130/80-18 Rear
  150/70-18 Rear

Dunlop:

• GT501 (Sport Touring bias ply)
  110/80-17 Front
  120/90-18 Rear
  130/80-18 Rear

Metzeler:

• Lasertec (Sport Touring bias ply)
  110/70-17 Front
  110/80-17 Front
  120/90-18 Rear
  130/70-18 Rear
  130/80-18 Rear

Michelin:

• Pilot Activ (Sport Touring bias ply)
  110/70-17 Front
  110/80-17 Front
  120/90-18 Rear
  130/70-18 Rear
  130/80-18 Rear

• Pilot Road 2 (Sport Touring radial)
  110/70-17 Front
  160/60-18 Rear

• Pilot Road 3 (Sport Touring radial)
  110/70-17 Front
  160/60-18 Rear

Pirelli:

• Sport Demon (Sport Touring bias ply)
  110/70-17 Front
  120/80-18 Rear
  120/90-18 Rear
  130/70-18 Rear
  140/70-18 Rear

Shinko:

• 006 Podium (Sport radial)
  110/70-17 Front
  140/60-18 Rear
  150/60-18 Rear

• SR740/741 (Sport Touring bias ply)
  110/70-17 Front
  110/80-17 Front
  140/70-18 Rear